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This thesis considers the long-term impacts of activist museum practice on visitors. Activist museum practice refers to an approach to museum work which advocates for positive socio-political change including the advancement of civil and human rights. Drawing from the fields of emancipatory learning, transformative learning, and clinical psychology, I advocate for a reframing of impact which contextualises and situates the museum experience within a wider framework of transformative experiences. The narrative of transformation allows us to better understand the process of transformation, the role of the museum visit within this process, and the relationship between museum visits and other transformative experiences. Here I consider the experiences of visitors to two case study sites - the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, UK and the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Through a series of interviews, visitors shared their museum experiences and their interpretations of the impact of those visits on their attitudes, understandings, and ways of being in the world. They also reflected on other experiences both related and unrelated which informed their beliefs, attitudes, and actions in the world. The findings suggest that museum visits play a role in the narratives of transformation for many visitors. Visitors who reported a high level of emotional and empathetic engagement - affective connectedness - were more likely to assign the museum a transformative role. Visitors were also able to situate the museum visit amongst other transformative experiences including formal education, experiences with media sources such as books, films, and news programmes, visits to similar heritage institutions, and direct personal experiences. For some visitors, the museum visit played a highly significant transformative role while for others it acted as one 'nudge' amongst many along their unique transformative journey.

The aim of this research is to examine the provision of education at heritage sites for the self-directed adult learner (SDAL) as perceived by heritage educators themselves. This doctoral research makes two original contributions. It proposes an alternative typology of learners in the heritage sector by redefining SDALs as heritage visitors to non-formal learning institutions. In exploring this recoding through the use of a unique learning model, explored in partnership with heritage educators in a modified World Café workshop format, the research offers a second original contribution. The data reported demonstrate that, while individual heritage educators are enthusiastic to support the SDAL, the dominant professional narrative perceives such visitors as informal learners. Literature suggests that, despite the fact that the majority of institutions foreground their educational remit, their self-perception remains defined as guardians of heritage. The research workshops exploring the perspectives of heritage educators illuminates the distinctions in missions between the institutional guardianship and preservation of cultural heritage and their educational role, which is focussed on schools and engaging with marginalised communities. The thesis addresses the questions as to the current institutional recognition of the needs of the SDAL amongst participant institutions and the extent to which such needs are supported and met through current practice. This doctoral thesis challenges the prevailing assumption that heritage education for the SDAL is principally informal learning. Instead, it concludes that a redefinition of educational provision in the light of contemporary literature suitable for a digital age is required. In doing so, this thesis contributes to the recoding of heritage institutions as non-formal learning providers for self-directed adult learners. It also supports the notion that inter-professional dialogue between different educational practitioners has significant value.

Science education researchers and practitioners become increasingly interested in the use of mobile tools to enhance science learning outside school. A number of related projects and initiatives have been launched in museum settings over the past decade. This study focuses on the integration of mobile learning into families’ science museum experiences as a tool for enhancing family science learning. This thesis presents research undertaken with family visitors to The National Science Museum in Thailand (NSM). The research comprised three major activities: 1) a preliminary study to identify the family learning needs and desired support at the NSM; 2) the development of a mobile application for NSM family visitors; and 3) A comprehensive summative evaluation that used a range of evaluation methods to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of the mobile application on the family experience. The preliminary study included interviews with three groups of participants (museum staff, family visitors, and the mobile app developers). Data about family need and desired support and services were collected and analysed through Grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1999). The content, structure and features of the mobile application were subsequently designed based on the requirements that emerged from the preliminary study. The application was created for both iOS and Android operating systems. Four main features of the application are Exhibition highlights which includes additional multimedia interpretation of some prominent exhibits, Map and direction, Camera and QR code interface, and the museum’s Events Calendar. The summative evaluation focused on the impacts of the mobile application on the family experience, including learning outcomes and family engagement with exhibits. It included 1) usability evaluation of the mobile application; 2) evaluation of the family learning outcomes by applying the Generic Learning Outcomes (GLOs) framework; and 3) an analysis of video-based observations of family behaviours at an exhibit using Bitgood’s attention-value model of visitor engagement (Bitgood, 2010). Findings suggest that the app (a) significantly increased family dwell time, (b) provided an additional platform for family interactions, and (c) amplified learning outcomes. The study aspires to evidence the potential of mobile technology to enhance family learning in the science museum and to offer guidance for developing similar tools for families in other informal science learning contexts. The thesis concludes with a summary of the implications of this study and recommendations for further research.

Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM) is an approach to research defined by members of Indigenous Nations for research of topics that directly concern them (their communities, their families). Gifting Culture constitutes the first time that this approach has been applied to museums studies (in the UK). What is meant by this, is that while it could be argued that any Indigenous museum practitioner conducting museums research on the topic of their own culture, is conducting ‘Indigenous research’, they are generally using (or are required to use) Euro-Western, positivistic approaches to research inquiry, rather than Indigenous Research Methodologies. This study challenges that pattern by using a comparison of display practices at the British Museum (geographic approach to display) and the Pitt Rivers Museum (typological approach to display) as passageways into interrogation of the dominance of Euro-Western approaches to interpretation of Indigenous heritage. Conducted primarily from an Algonquian worldview (by a member of the Lumbee Nation) this study also considers relationships between its findings, methodology and whether or not museum display practices enact as ‘pure gift exchange’. In this study, objectstorytellers (museum objects) from each museum are anchoring participants. Audience mapping facilitates understanding the agency of these storytellers in their respective museum ecologies, while interviews with curators Jago Cooper and Laura Peers lend insight into the practical management of these respective collections. 1555 visitors were observed over a period of six observation days at the Pitt Rivers Museum and 4266 visitors were observed during seven days of observations at the British Museum. Gifting Culture includes a conventional Euro-Western discussion of the study, while also offering a non-European translation of the research experience in the form of an Ititamatpamá ( ‘Time Ball’).

This PhD research has aimed to contribute towards building a museum perspective of innovation, a contribution that preserves the essence of the term but more importantly takes into consideration the unique role of museums in society. Hence, this research identifies museum innovation as the new or enhanced products, processes or business models by which museums can effectively achieve their social and cultural mission. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt for a museology research to provide a definition for innovation. Furthermore, this research presents a possible model of innovation in museums, called the Museum Innovation Model (MIM). The theoretical framework of the model is based on three concepts, open innovation, social enterprise, and social innovation, each of which, the research observes, are growing trends in the museum sector. These three concepts are interconnected and together can present a formula for innovation in museums. The formula is expressed simply as: museums that adopt social enterprise business model and utilize open innovation strategies are capable of achieving social innovation. The model aims to make innovation in museums scalable, replicable and feasible to start and operate. This research, also attempts to supply the museum studies literature with some terminologies and conceptual frameworks related to innovation. These new entries can bridge ideas and create common grounds with other disciplines such as business studies, which can facilitate future collaborations between academics and practitioners from both sides. Additionally, the clarity of innovation related concepts and terminologies within the museum context can provide the museum sector, internally, with a clearer, more effective, and eloquent way of communicating ideas, projects, goals, objectives, and expectations.

This Ph.D. research was triggered by the existing need for an evaluation model that will help museums to measure their social media success. This thesis defines a performance measurement framework that could be adopted to select the set of measures and tools required to carry out this evaluation task. In order to develop the framework, this thesis investigates the strategies and usage of social media based on original data collected from twenty cultural organisations as part of the UK’s ‘Let’s Get Real’ national action research project. The framework developed in this study and named the ‘Museum Social Media Measurement Framework’, uses the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ as its foundation. A case study approach, using Tate’s social media initiatives, was adopted to assess the validity of the framework and to obtain, during its implementation, a detailed understanding of the evaluation methods and tools that may be applied in this context. The study concludes that not only has the Balanced Scorecard shown itself to be a valuable strategy management instrument for clarifying vision and objectives, but it also provides a good overview of how the museum creates value from both an internal and external perspective. However, it lacks data visualisation guidelines and is not free from implementation challenges. This study reflects on the implications for museums in establishing a performance measurement system in terms of processes, organisational structure and resources. This thesis contributes to the business studies field with a case study of the application of the Balanced Scorecard. Moreover, this research illustrates the value of applying business theories to museum studies with the proposal of a new tool for the sector. The thesis as a whole makes the case for a better evaluation approach in museums when it comes to measuring the impact and value of social media.

This thesis has two aims of equal importance: firstly to reveal the fine details of the typical experiences of young children visiting a museum; secondly to find a method of accessing these experiences in such a way as to prioritise the children’s own perspectives, and to do so with a light touch, in order to minimise the impact on the visits. The research focuses on the experiences of 32 children, aged four and five years old, in their family visits to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Drawing on the field of Childhood Studies, the project contrasts the effectiveness of several research methods for their potential use with young children in this setting, including children’s drawings and tours. The final method involved using children’s digital photographs of their visit as prompts for photo-elicitation interviews, thus providing both visual and verbal expressions of their experience. The major contribution of this thesis to museum visitor studies is its development and description of a highly effective, minimally-invasive method that richly documents children’s experiences during the time of their museum visit using their own words and images. The research adds to a small but growing field of study about young children’s museum experiences with the addition of a detailed case study from a British natural history museum. Findings reveal children’s navigations of the social and physical setting, their responses to different types of museum object and modes of exhibit display, and the highly varied ways in which they make sense of the things that they encounter in the museum. The thesis thus argues for a move away from a solely learning-focused view of young children in museums to one that sees them as visitors in their own right, who value many different aspects of their museum visits.

Digital products are an increasingly significant part of the output of museums in the UK, but the rationale behind them and the long term plans for them are not always clear. This thesis argues that to consider such a digital product to be sustainable, the value it creates must justify the resources it requires. The decisions involved in building and supporting these products affect both the value proposition and the resource requirements, but also reflect the way that museums and their stakeholders see the balance between the two. At the same time, this balance is under the influence of a constantly changing environment. The study proposes a model of sustainability as a cycle of value, resources and decision-making, and three case studies are used to examine how decisions are reached in the face of flux and uncertainty. Some ways in which decisions can be biased or distorted are identified, and finally some approaches are offered for museums seeking to improve the balance of value and resources, and increase the quality of the decisions that underlie them.